Onions
Magnolias
General and History
While some of the 350 to 500 Allium species are found in just about
all habitable regions of the Northern Hemisphere, the common onions
we eat probably originated in Western Asia. It is certain they were being
cultivated in the Mediterranean region, particularly Egypt, at least 5000
years ago.
The ancient world had only a few varieties of onion, but today hundreds of cultivars have been developed for specific purposes, regions, and month of maturity. As with so many fruit and vegetable varieties now grown worldwide, many important varieties were developed in California, which grows more than 25% of the U.S. onion crop.
Specific cultivars are of little culinary interest but are absolutely critical to onion growers. For instance, onions start to bulb at a specific day length. The wrong cultivar for a latitude may never bulb or it may bulb too soon resulting in undersize onions. Classifications of culinary interest are:
- Size: For size information see Yellow Onions.
- Color
- White are preferred in Mexican cuisine and by onion processors. The flavor is simpler (cleaner) but they are pretty much interchangeable with yellow onions for cooking
- Yellow are the standard onion found everywhere. They come in "sweet" and "storage" varieties and in many sizes.
- Brown is a controversial classification among onion experts. For culinary purposes it's just another name for yellow.
- Red onions are popular sliced in salads for their attractive color pattern but they may stain cooked dishes.
- Sweet vs. Storage
- Sweet Onions have a high water content and are lower in the sulphur compounds that make onions strong. Mildness and relatively large size make them the darling of the fast food hamburger trade. See Sweet Onions below.
- Storage Onions are your common supermarket varieties, red, white and yellow. They come in a range of sizes from grape to mellon and are relatively strong compared to sweet onions. Keeping properties are much better than for sweet onions - weeks to months depending on season. See Onions.
- Scallion / Green Onion - [UK Spring Onion] - Scallions are onions that never produce a bulb and are harvested for their leaves which taper from white at the base to deep green over most of their length. Some varieties that would bulb in northern regions can be grown as scallions farther south. See Scallions.
- Shape and Size
The various colors of onion come in a range of shapes and sizes. Shape and size have no affect on strength and flavor but can be critical to culinary textures.- Flattened Globe onions are particularly attractive for slicing for hamburgers or for onion rings as the shape maximizes yield and uniformity.
- Elongated onions are preferable for slicing lengthwise into wedges for stir frying and such.
Religious Prohibitions
Alliums are forbidden to members of the Hari Krishna sect and other adherents to the Hindu "Brahman Diet", particularly all forms of garlic and onions. These are said to "inspire to lust" and cause "odors of the breath", so should asparagus be likewise condemned for "odors of the pee"?
Varieties
OnionsYellow Onion - [Brown Onion, Spanish
Onion]
This is the most common onion in the U.S. and generally the lowest cost. They vary in size from less than 4 ounces to well over 1 pound and in color from greenish yellow to as dark as the photo specimens depending on variety (there's an ideal variety for every growing area) and length of storage. The largest of the photo specimens was 3-5/8 inches diameter and weighed over 11 ounces. In cooking it can be used interchangeably with white and red onions, but salads and salsas are more fussy.
The National Onion Association defines a medium onion to be 5 ounces.
Onions that small are hard to find in Southern California onion bins, so
I'm calling it a 6 ounce onion that produces 1-cup chopped small.
| Size | Weight | Chopped | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small | 4 oz - 5 oz | 1/2 cup | |
| Medium | 5 oz - 7 oz | 1 cup | |
| Large | 7 oz - 10 oz |
Popular raw in salads, these globe shaped onions have relatively thick
layers and thicker dried skins. When cooked most of the color is lost, but
they are the most popular onion for cooking on the east coast of India.
They are preferred for growing in some regions because they're more resistant
to blight than yellow or white onions.When caramelized this onion goes quite dark and a bit sticky, but has good onion flavor. Of the photo specimens, the big one with leaves was 5-1/2 inches in diameter and weighed 2 pounds 3-1/4 ounces. The regular ones were 2-7/8 inches in diameter and weighed 6-7/8 ounces.
These offer a slightly cleaner, simpler flavor than regular yellow
onions but with the same onion bite. Mexican recipes always call for
white onions which are traditional there and for some applications the clean
white color is desirable. For cooking there really isn't a noticeable
difference between the two so substitute yellow onions if you don't have
white. Of the photo specimens, the big one with leaves was 4-1/2 inches
diameter and weighed 2 pounds 2-1/8 ounces. The regular ones were 2-7/8 inches
diameter and weighed 7 ounces.
Bermuda Onion
An extinct variety of yellow onion (RIP 1985). Spanish
Onions are sometimes mistakenly called Bermuda Onions.
Unfortunately the term "Spanish Onion" has been degraded to mean regular non-sweet yellow onions in most of North America, but in New York and New Jersey it means red onions. In the UK it means a mild white onion.. In Spain onions are all Cebollas which may be Nueva if freshly picked or Roja if red, nothing more.
Scallions are onions of varieties carefully chosen to not bulb before they
reach harvest size. Generally in the markets they are cut to about 13 inches
long from the base of the bulb, but the photo specimens were untrimmed and
are up to 34 inches long. Recipes calling for "3 scallions" are highly
imprecise because scallions sold in North America vary from 1/4 inch to 7/8
inch diameter at the bulb end. Figure a standard scallion is 5/8 inch at
the bulb and 13 inches long - adjust for the size you have on hand.Scallions are the onions of China, but they grow much larger ones there.
Many Chinese will use a pile of scallions rather than a single regular
onion because regular onions are considered "foreign", which in Chinese
dialects is a synonym for "inferior". Regular onions were brought to China
from India 2000 years ago.
These are very similar to scallions, but the variety is selected to bulb.
They are picked when the bulbs reach about 3/4 inch diameter. The largest
of the photo specimens was 7/8 inch diameter.
Most North American varieties of sweet onion were developed in Texas, starting with Bermuda onion seeds from the Canary Islands. These were selected and hybridized in various ways. Some varieties cannot propagate but have to be planted from seeds specially produced by seed growers from two varieties.
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Attempts to grow Maui onions on the mainland are imperfectly successful.
The appropriate growing climate eliminates much of the country and their
unique flavor owes a lot to the red soil of the Haleakala volcano in which
they're grown. Even if you live in a southern state and have a recently
active volcano in your back yard, continental volcanos probably spew a mix
of minerals different from mid-ocean rift volcanos, so you still won't have
authentic Maui onions. The Vidalia Onion is actually Granex, developed in Texas. At first all
Vidalias were transplants shipped from Texas, but with the development of
herbicides to keep weeds down they were able to be grown from seed. These
have a somewhat flattened shape. The photo specimens were typically 4.5 inches
diameter, 2-7/8 inches high and weighed 16 ounces.
This is actually only one of a number of sweet onions grown in Texas where
onions are the leading vegetable crop, but it's the most famous.
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This famous variety of sweet onion is grown on the Hawaiian island of
Maui. Like most American sweet onions it is of Texas origin, but is smaller
than most of the mainland varieties. It hits the market early in the season
so it fetches a good price, lowest cost from May to August, higher from
September to April. Like most other American sweet onions.
Varieties of sweet onion grown in Vidalia Georgia that have been marketed
intensely and very successfully. Formerly available only in the spring, some
are now stored in an oxygen free environment and released in the fall.
Because of their high water content they cannot be stored for a long period.
This sweet onion was developed in the early 1980s at Texas A&M and named for
its ideal planting date. It was renamed Texas SuperSweet, but distributors
insisted they didn't want Texas SuperSweets, they wanted 1015s. These are
grown in Texas and normally available from April to mid June, but methods
like oxygen free storage have been developed to extend availability. The
photo specimen was 3-5/8 inches diameter, 3-1/4 inches high and weighed
11-3/8 ounces.Shallots
[Eschallot (France), Scalogno (Italy), Moo-Seer (Persia),
Bawang merah kecil (Malay) Allium oschaninii]
Shallots have a multi-bulb form similar garlic but with fewer, much larger bulbs. Sliced they appear similar to a small red onion. Their flavor is similar to red onion with a touch of garlic blended in. They are sharp with "tear power" that puts onions to shame.
Shallots have been a "gourmet" item in the U.S. and were mostly imported from France and sold for very high prices. This is changing with prices in California (where large quantities are now grown) dropping by more than half in the last couple of years. This was brought on by the large and growing Indian and Southeast Asian population here - shallots are much used every day items in those regions.
There are two varieties available in California, the large, often elongated European style and the small round Asian variety. Both are shown in the photo. The typical European shallot is 2-1/2 inches long, 1-1/2 inches across and weighs 1.5 ounces. The typical Asian shallot is about 1-1/4 inch long. 1-1/4 inches diameter and weighs 1/2 ounce.
While red onions and garlic can replace shallots in some recipes, they have one attribute that makes them essential for other recipes - they dissolve completely into sauces which onions will not do even if chopped to equal fineness.
What does a recipe mean when it says "One Shallot"? Here's my best estimate based on the shallots available in areas of Southern California that serve particular shallot using communities:
| 1-1/2 ounce | European and American recipes | |
| 1/2 ounce | Indian and Southeast Asian recipes |
The way I interpret "1 shallot" is, if the bulbs are separate or
wrapped together only with paper, each bulb is a shallot. If two bulbs
are wrapped together under a layer that's fully living, they count as
one shallot. Thus in the photo above, the European at the top and the
Asian at bottom left both count as two shallots while the Asian at
bottom center would be one shallot.
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Fresh Garlic
Garlic Cloves
Formerly almost all garlic sold in the North America came from Gilmore, California, but now most comes from China, which grows more garlic than the rest of the world combined. When a recipe calls for a "clove of garlic" it means the large outer cloves of the head. These should be at least 1-1/4 inches long and 5/8 inch wide, weighing at least 6 to the ounce. Elephant Garlic - Not a garlic - see Leeks. |
This is a single bulb variety of garlic which does not split into
cloves. Both bulbs and stalks can be used. The photo specimens were
14-1/2 inches long with bulbs just over 7/8 inch diameter.
As a garlic plant matures, its bulb develops multiple centers and it splits
into segments called "cloves". A group of cloves under a single wrapper
constitutes a "head" of garlic.Leeks -
[Allium ampeloprasum]
Leeks originated in southeastern Europe and/or western Asia, but were
carried as far as the British Isles in prehistoric times. It is certain
they were used as food in ancient Egypt at least 4000 years ago, but
probably much earlier.
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Common Leek -
[Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum]
This is the leek commonly found in North America in practically every
supermarket, produce market and farmer's market produce stand. For
culinary purposes a "medium leek" is cut to 13 inches long (excluding
roots) and weighs about 9 ounces with a bulb about 1.6 inches diameter.
Prepared for use it will weigh about 5-3/4 ounces. The photo shows a
leek as marketed and as prepared for use in cooking.
Details and Cooking.
Taiwan Leek -
[Allium ampeloprasum var. ???]
These leeks are now grown in California and appear in the Asian markets
here. They are much smaller than the common leek with bulbs up to 1.5
inches diameter and shafts about 0.83 inche diameter. They were cut to
the same standard 13 inch length (not counting roots) used for Common
Leeks sent to market. Preparation and usage is pretty much the same as
for the common leek.
Elephant Garlic - [Russian garlic,
Allium ampeloprasum var. ampeloprasum]
Elephant Garlic looks like a giant garlic head, tastes a lot like garlic,
can be used in place of garlic, but it's not actually garlic - it's a leek.
The flavor is milder than real garlic and some people prefer that, especially
when it is included raw, such as in salads and salad dressings. Young flower
heads can also be cooked as a vegetable. The photo specimen, shown with two
large cloves of regular garlic in front, was 3-1/2 inches in diameter
and weighed 6-3/8 ounces.
Vietnamese Leek -
[Allium ampeloprasum? ]
These tasty pickles are commonly found in Asian markets here in Southern
California. Since they are only available in that form I have not identified
the exact species / variant, but I have eaten plenty of them.
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Chives
Ramps
- [Wild Leek, Ail des bois (French), Allium tricoccum]
Ramps are native to the Appalachian mountain chain from South Carolina north into Canada. They are particularly popular in West Virginia and Quebec Canada. Both the scallion like bulbs and the leaves are eaten and they are described as being like a combination of onion and garlic. Very seasona1, they are available only from late winter through early spring.
While there are ramp festivals in Virginia and West Virginia and restaurants there serve them in season, in most of the country they are available only through gourmet outlets at absurd prices. Commercial production is experimental and seems to work only in a forest setting.
Protective laws are in place in Quebec where ramps cannot be sold or handled commercially, but poachers sneak them across the border into Ontario to sell to restaurants.
Health & Nutrition
Alliums are safe to eat in any quantity you are likely to consume. They are low in sodium, free from fats and cholesterol and contain a pretty good mix if vitamins and minerals.
Onions, garlic and leeks have played an important role in traditional medicine and healing since before the dawn of history. Both internal and topical applications have been common. Today they are being studied for anti-cancer properties so varieties can be developed particularly high in cancer fighting elements.
Other characteristics being studied are the ability of onions to lower blood pressure, control blood clotting, reduce blood cholesterol and improve the ratio of "good" to "bad" cholesterol. Anti-bacterial characteristics are also gaining attention, particularly for fighting drug resistant bacteria.
Garlic is reputed to repel vampires, a characteristic important to the health of any person set upon by them. This has not been confirmed by controlled scientific studies as no such studies have been conducted.